Flex-1500 – Starting the SDR journey

Posted on Sunday, May 31st, 2015 at 9:20 am in

Flex-1500 SDR

Flex-1500 SDR

I might be older, but I’m very young at heart when it comes to technology. I love playing with all the latest gadgets and adopting my hobby to the emerging technologies. One example would be that I only run solid-state amplifiers (watch out for my series of articles on building my own). I also talk WSPR and digital modes fluently.

So it would come as no surprise that I tested one of the RTL-2832 USB adapters to see what I could see. And I saw the incredible power of the panadapter display and waterfall combined, and I started thinking. I had to think, because my Minister-Of-Home-Affairs is always asking me why I need another radio since I can only talk on one radio at one time. Doesn’t she understand boys and their toys? Anyhow, I started realising that there are many options out there – most completely out of my range. Sigh.

Thus, when Hans ZS6KR placed an ad on the swopshop for a second-user Flex-1500 I called immediately and snared myself one of these beauties. I’ve owned it for less than 24 hours, yet it has charmed me in more ways than I can imagine. The receiver (and I mean right up to the display) is incredible. And the 5 watts is a non-issue because my HLA-300V took to the radio like a duck to water, putting out a nice 50-80 watts into the antenna wires.

I cannot predict where this love-journey will end. All I know is that suddenly a whole new world was opened to me. Yes, it might be the entry-level SDR receiver and already four or five years old, but it has everything necessary to keep me feeling warm and fuzzy during the upcoming winter months.

I’ll keep you posted. 73s.

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